How Andrew Lawrence provoked the greatest Twitter feud ever

Comedian Andrew Lawrence made waves in the comedic establishment this week.

His attack on the ‘liberal back-slapping’ of BBC panel shows such as Mock The Week prompted a lengthy barrage of tweets from the likes of Frankie Boyle, Dara O’Briain and even Nigel Farage.

Here’s a run-through of how sh*t went down.

We’ve been reporting a lot recently on the tame nature of social media spats, but this one had it all: controversial comments, comedic fall-outs and even a contribution from Nigel Farage – tweeting from a country pub, presumably.

The saga began on Saturday

… when Lawrence decided to dish out some opinions via Facebook on the latest series of long-running panel show Mock The Week, in which he felt obliged to come to the aid of poor, poor UKIP.

The note continued on in a similar tone, with the comedian – known more for bizarre vocal acrobatics than weighing into political discourse – complaining of ‘benefits tourists and criminals’ and the ‘money grubbing charlatans’ at the BBC.

Dara O’Briain was quick to weigh in on Lawrence’s comments

The Mock The Week presenter ignited a tirade of abuse and questions from a whole flange of UKIP supporters.

Great news! Apparently Mock The Week is secretly funded by the EU, to promote a pro-Europe agenda! Scorchio!

Amazingly, Nigel Farage sprung to Lawrence’s defence

The growing online hoop-la over the Lawrence Facebook post was enough to awaken the UKIP lizard king himself, with Nigel Farage deciding to get involved in a ‘Don King’ role to Andrew Lawrence’s ‘Mike Tyson’. Everyone needs a hype-man:

It's rare to find someone so honest in the media, particularly in comedy. This is very interesting: http://t.co/PmGv4plgaS